The platform comes nine months after a group of shipping companies announced their collective effort to increase transparency of ship recycling policies and practices in order to make responsible ship recycling the norm. Demanding transparency holds the shipping industry to account, raising the bar for current practice as well as creating fair competition among shipowners. It will also enable ship and cargo owners, lenders, investors, banks, and insurers to make informed decisions. The importance of such decisions is increasing with the growing expectation for companies to take responsibility for their value chain sustainability.

In 2017, 835 ships were recycled out of a world fleet of 50,000. Despite the known risks associated with ship recycling there is no global regulation currently in force, resulting in a wide range of approaches, ranging from practices with adverse social and environmental consequences to responsible ship recycling practices.

The SRTI is neither a standard nor a rating tool, it is an online platform that shipping companies can use to disclose relevant information on ship recycling. The information provided is allowed to tell its own story and is readily available to the industry’s stakeholders, as well as the broader public.

Andrew Stephens, Executive Director of the SSI, said: “The SRTI is unique in that it tells a positive story, shining a light on what is actually possible in terms of responsible ship recycling. We’ve seen what transparency has done in other sectors, in some cases prompting immediate and transformative change.”

“With the information disclosed through the SRTI online platform cargo owners and investors can reduce reputational and brand risk, and be accountable for their supply chain.”